Charlie, You Gotta Have Heart

Seize the day, Charlie Brown.

The little round-headed boy’s feelings for the little red-haired girl are stronger than ever during the Valentine season. But he just can’t work up the nerve to approach her in “A Charlie Brown Valentine,” tonight at 8 on ABC.

This all-new show, the first in eight years, comes from the creators of the other, now-classic “Peanuts” specials: executive producer Lee Mendelson, producer-director Bill Melendez and the cartoon’s beloved creator, Charles M. Schulz, who was working on the show before his death. Filled with gentle humor and quiet insight, it arrives two years and two days after his passing--a keepsake Valentine and a bittersweet reminder, rolled into one.

The half-hour, animated program follows the romantic misadventures of the whole “Peanuts” gang but focuses in particular on the pint-sized Everyman, Charlie Brown, as he pines for the little red-haired girl while letting opportunities to impress her--by returning a dropped pencil or saving her from a playground bully--slip through his fingers. At one point, he buys her a gift, telling the unseen saleswoman: “I’d like to buy a box of candy for a girl who doesn’t know I exist. No, ma’am, nothing too expensive. I’ll never have the nerve to give it to her anyway.”

We know just how you feel, buddy.